Once a Teen, Always a Teen

Since my ten page term paper was about teen magazines, and many of you are as devoted teen mag readers as I am, I thought it might be fun to share some of my findings and hear your thoughts!

I grew up in a very small town in Missouri—and I don’t have any sisters—so it seems like I learned everything about everything from teen magazines. I first picked up an issue of Seventeen when I was 11, and I never looked back.

Since then, I have subscribed to Seventeen, Teen People, CosmoGirl, ELLEgirl, and Teen Vogue at varying points of my life. To me, those magazines were so much more than a monthly stack of glossy articles; they were a “how-to guide” to life as a teen. Now, only two teen magazines are left. In my lifetime, I've seen ELLEgirl, CosmoGirl, YM, Teen, Teen People, Jump, and Instyle's Your Look close. Seventeen and Teen Vogue, thankfully, remain.

+ As teens are finding new alternatives in other media, the teen magazine market is undergoing an adolescent crisis. - AP

+ When Hearst Magazines bought Seventeen magazine last spring, it asked Atoosa Rubenstein, the frizzy-haired editor of CosmoGirl, a Hearst guide to girls' empowerment, to rejuvenate the fading teenage publication. But after looking in the mirror, Ms. Rubenstein decided that another kind of editor would be needed to remake Seventeen, a much more conventional magazine than CosmoGirl. So she began by straightening her hair. "I felt like I wasn't fitting in at my own magazine. The old hair said, 'Hi, I'm a quirky, wacky girl, and I don't care what anybody thinks.' The new hair said, 'I have work to do.'" - NYT

+ At CosmoGirl, we focused a lot on a girl's spiritual development. At Seventeen, we are working on their wardrobe development... You can't grab teen girls by the arm and tell them you are going to teach them something new. It has to be gradual so that you don't freak them out. - NYT

+ "It's easy for people to fall back on a discussion of which medium is better, which medium has momentum," said Jane Grenier, associate publisher of Teen Vogue. "This age of visitor has been interacting with different media her whole life. A rich, integrated Web site is crucial — you can't live in this girl's world without it." - AdAge

All American

Leave it to Teen Vogue to make grunge look so glam. Although I haven't been able to embrace combat boots and threadbare thermals the way downtown darlings like Alexa Chung and Erin Wasson have, I can definitely support the abundance of fair isle sweaters, tartan plaid, and striped stockings shown in this incredible photo shoot.

More than I want this girl's perfect country-chic wardrobe, blond-but-not-too-bleached hair, or cute hippie boyfriend, I want her picturesque rural setting. As much as I talk about my love for New York City, an endless view of trees and grass and greenery sure has it's charm.

Especially when you can wear outfits like this.

Teen Queen

Teen mag queens unite!

For this morning's I Heart Daily, former ELLEgirl-by-the-way-of-Seventeen editor Melissa Walker interviewed Teen Vogue beauty director Eva Chen. Having had the pleasure of meeting both, Eva and Melissa are destined to be beauty buddies. Not only do they share an understated glamour (glowing cheeks, gloriously glossy eyelashes) and cute bobbed haircuts, but the two women are incredible role models for teens—and twenty-somethings!—across America.

Even though my beauty routine is limited to blush, mascara, and the requisite concealer because I get far too little sleep, Eva is a total icon of mine because she's so smart, so personable, and so genuine... all things that come across in her writing. Plus, she worked at Bazaar and Elle before landing her sweet Teen Vogue gig.

Are you as addicted to I Heart Daily and Eva's beauty blog as I am? What are you waiting for?

Mommy & Me

If your mom was choosing your outfits each day, would you still look the same? New York Magazine asked five cool city kids, ranging in ages from 7 to 16, to choose their best back to school outfit—and then gave their mothers free reign to dress them as they pleased.

Is it just me, or does Madeline's mom have styling abilities that rival Alex Wang? My mom doesn't, but I would be willing to wear her hand-selected wardrobe nonetheless. Half of the contents of our closets are the same, and when I lived at home, I would go in for an outfit approval on a daily basis. After four years of living away, I still kind of miss that.

If NYMag were to ask us to participate in the back-to-school wardrobe wars, the "kid" vs. "mom" outfits are bound to be identical. Do you and your mom have similar senses of styles?

Girl Power

"Really, the message that comes through is to think for yourself. Think about what you really like to do, what you really want to do, and do it! I say this to kids everyday — whether they're in my office, the interns, the people who email me — and it's a cliché and I know it sounds Pollyanna-ish, but you can do the things that you want to do. I'm always saying to girls, 'You do have the power to pursue your path.'"

Amy Astley is my role model. I'm not sure what I'm more excited about: The Teen Vogue Handbook or this incredible interview Mediabistro did with Amy about the magazine's upcoming book.

This is the kind of advice I try to repeat to myself every single day, throughout the day. Sometimes when I'm sitting in class in the middle of Missouri, I need to remind myself that I can be whoever I want to be and do whatever I want to do. Call what you will — Pollyanna-ish, as Amy said, or Cinderella-esque, as I like to think — but I believe constantly reminding ourselves of our potential is one of the most important things we can do.

And it's even cooler when Amy's the one to remind us.